The Imperial Palace, Dominate of Flavius Claudius Decimus (Ravenna) - *IBFD*

[SeniorBatavianHorse]

Decimus glances briefly at the letter.

His ideas accord with mine. All buildings of il-repute shall be demolished and their stones used to furnish our walls and their coin to fill our coffers. As to the Christian buildings only the lesser ones are to be razed - too many saints and other hermits infest the cities. They are a burden we cannot tolerate. However the main basilicas and churches shall not be touched.

[SeniorBatavianHorse]

Find me coin, Ricimerus and I will heed these words. We need money and the army is too large. Would you have me resign the legions? Would you be the one to tell them to put down their standards and eagles on the day of Rome's fall? I think not.

[-Aquila-]

Cornelius looked up with a rather pleased expression on his face, and then replied after considering how his fellow senators would take to his idea.

"Sir, if the worst happens and our border cities are besieged with no hope of rescue, will you consider stripping the city of its valuables to fund our legions. This might be necessary to replenish our treasury and it might even hinder our enemies. This of course, would be last resort after considering other possibilities."

[Lord Stanton]

Bran finally comes out of his hostile attitude.

I am sorry for my rudeness. The Dominus is correct. We shall survive. I can make myself think of money I suppose...
The city has many valuables, but making their owners part with them is another story.

A smile spread across his face. It never reached his eyes.

[SeniorBatavianHorse]

The strength of trusting my Magisters and Prefects, Comes and Vicarii is that they have remit to shape my orders as they see fit in each of their spheres of control within reason of course. Once all the great offices have been filled - and when will that be I wonder? - I rely of their integrity and honour to defend Rome as best as they are able, Cornelius Agrippa.

- as for stripping the city, Corrigan, and parting the owners from their wealth, I wonder if we do not become wolves to our own sheep?

[Lord Stanton]

A good point my Lord. I doubt it is a great idea. May i suggest trying to fend of the Goths and then build mines and send merchants to trade in natural resources? it can at least help with some of the expenses. Maybe give us enough time to find a new source of income?

[SeniorBatavianHorse]

Let us first appoint the great officers of state. We cannot proceed until they are ratified and installed in their respective seats - although I would imagine placing some within Carthago Nova may entail some wily bribery and underground crawling to get past the Vandal besiegers!

On another matter, I am elevating a new post and one I consider vital - the Comes Officiorum, commander of the offices which deal with embassies and subterfuge. All the Areani will fall under his remit as well my Imperial ambassadors both here and in the Barbaricum.

Not all wars are fought on the point of a sword.

[Lord Stanton]

I do not have morals so great to inhibit bribery and certainly i can crawl my lord. How do you think i escaped the Sack of Rome? When shall the elections commence my Lord? A time and date would certainly help.



Bran looks pointedly at the Emperor, waiting for a response

[Lord Stanton]

Cornelius, you seem to be full of economical ideas, can you come up with any more? That might yield a larger scale of profit?


Bran waits.

[SeniorBatavianHorse]

It is imperative that this empire, placed in my hands by the army and the people, is guided once more by trusted men. Therefore, now that Rome has fallen and the Senate reconvened here at my indulgence in Ravenna, I ask that all Senators now vote on the issue of high office. Time is pressing and my needs are desperate. I will gift you this night and the morrow to put your case before me and I will choose those worthy by sundown tomorrow (OOC: say about 20:00 GMT?).

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

It would be much easier to do the job with more men than with less men, Domine.

The priority right now is to act with what we have, I am affraid. And we won't be able to replace them anytime soon, given our terrible financial condition.

But I hand my trust over your orders.

[Selifator]

Oppius stands up, and speaks directly to the Dominus.

Dominus, if I may speak freely. What might be a better solution to the Foederati problem is also a drastic and horrifying one. Assemble an army of Foederati and use them as the first army in every fight. Let them bleed and let them die.
This goes against my principles, but if this is neccesary for our survival then I would rather see them die then true Roman citizens.
As Scipio Barbatus (?) said, we need these men even only as a sacrifice to save better men.
If it is needed I am also willing to lay down my requested position as Dux and serve either as Comes or Magister if any are still open.
I shall say it again, in any way I can serve, I will.

Oppius stands back and awaits the response from the Emperor.

[-Aquila-]

"I would like to rasie the proposal of new trade agreements with the tribes along our borders, I believe it is our interests to try and persuade the tribes of the benfits that would come along side trade agreements with the Roman people. I suggest that we make it a priority for the newly appointed governors to make trade agreements with their neighbouring tribes, that is if they are not deemed a threat to the Roman Empire."

Cornelius stood back and looked around at the crowd, and then replied "Does anyone object with this proposal?

[Lord Stanton]

Bran said quietly

First you must take stock of our current allies, friends and enemies. Even future allies or enemies. We do not want to trade with those that could soon be our enemies. Present your idea with some tribes in mind. That would make it better. But essentially, yes, the idea is a good one. We cannot rely entirely on the Empire to re-gain its economy. See, I'm not that bad at economies. I just play dumb.

Bran slid away into the shadows, barely visible

[Winter]

Senator Constantinus stands to speak.

Senatores, Dominus, I think we can all agree that gaining trade agreements would be in our best interest. It would also be in our best interest to secure allies for these wars. On this point, I have a suggeston.

Constantine unfurls a map, pointing to Colonia Agrippina, an old Roman settlement now owned by Franks

The Franks, gentlemen, are no friends of Rome. However, is it also not true that they are at war with the Usurper, or on the verge of it? I say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and these Franks are certainly enemies of the Usurper. I believe it would be in our best interests to contact the Frankish king and make an alliance with him against the Usurper.

Titus now points to the lands of the Allemani

North of Augusta Trevorum lies the lands of the Allemani. They have long been our enemies, challenging our northern limes a great deal. However, I believe that if we can negotiate a ceasefire with them and open trade routes, even temporarily, it will greatly ease the burden in the north. I know that this may seem unfathomable to some of you senators, but sometimes we must sacrifice our pride for our survival.

Titus now points to the east of the map

These are the lands of the Ostrogothic kingdom. These men are cousins to the Goths that plague us, but they remained behind during the visigothic migration. I say that we strike up a friendly relationship with these goths, lest we be beset by another hoard.

Finally Titus points to the great swath of land owned by the huns

These huns here are a great threat to our sovereignty. They have conquered land after land in their drive forward. I suggest dealing cautiously with these barbarians. One false move may bring their hordes to bear on us, something we can scarcely afford now. Perhaps trade rights might start us on the path to peace.

Titus steps to the side, allowing the Emperor to study the map before him.

[-Aquila-]

"Well, I was thinking of the Burgundii as they could help us hassal those traitors in Gaul aswell as those tribes who call us their enemies. Also I was thinking the Ostrogoths as they could block the Huns from entering our lands with a little assistance from us. I realise they are at war with our fellow 'Romans' in Constantinople but we can never be so sure about their intentions."

"Anyone disagree with this?"

Cornelius then gave the notion to someone else to talk.

[Lord Stanton]

BRan watched with interest. It was the first plan he had liked all day.

A good plan my friend. A good plan indeed. But can we carry it out in time? Do we have enough diplomats? We certainly dont have the money to train more. This could undoing to the plan, for it requires much time to travel to such far away places, and could be done more quickly with greater amount of diplomats. Other than that, I see no flaw, and I am in wholehearted agreement.

[Winter]

These are merely suggestions. I realize that we cannot possibly accomplish all of these goals, and therefore we must decide which ones we would like to take the greatest priority.

[Lord Stanton]

And therefore we must decide which nation has the most to offer us...


Bran trails off

[Winter]

It is in my opinion of the utmost importance to stop the Allemani raids in the north. These attacks distract our forces and stretch our armies to an unacceptable level. And if they, god forbid, ever broke the limes, we would scarcely have enough forces in the region to slow them down.